Jackson v. Indiana, cited as 406 U.S. 715 (1972), is a case decided by a unanimous decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, which held that a state’s “indefinite commitment of a criminal defendant solely on account of his lack of capacity to stand trial violates due process” as protected by the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Further, the Court held that the “permanent institutionalization” of such persons “without the showing required for commitment or the opportunity for release afforded by ordinary civil commitment procedures” violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause. As such, the Court established that reasonable time limits must apply to the pretrial institutionalization of persons lacking mental capacity to stand trial.

Indiana state law called for incompetent criminal defendants to be committed ...